


Under the Moons of Darillium: Part 16 Bang, Bang

by Stardance1



Series: Under the Moons of Darillium: A Night of Adventures [16]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio), The Diary of River Song (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: F/M, Post-Episode: 2015 Xmas The Husbands of River Song, Singing Towers of Darillium
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-02-04
Packaged: 2019-10-22 05:01:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17656394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stardance1/pseuds/Stardance1
Summary: On an archeological field work trip to the Amesbury Circle, River discovers precolonial links to the mysterious Anagoge 'forgotten folk' of Darillium. But when an unexpected group arrives the danger level boils over.





	Under the Moons of Darillium: Part 16 Bang, Bang

**Author's Note:**

> Please note this story is part of a series.

“River?"  
“Hmmm?"  
"You’re staring… plus, you still haven’t answered my question.”  
River’s eyes snapped back to the Doctor's face. "Sorry Sweetie, what were you saying….?”  
Before he could respond though, he could tell that he’d already lost her attention again; she was letting her eyes drift slowly lower down, along the lines of his body.  
He shifted awkwardly in his chair and then crossed his legs.  
Then he coughed slightly, recrossing his legs toward River.  
Of course it wasn’t his fault, he was after all mostly naked having already lost his shoes, hoodie, trousers, teeshirt, and one sock. He literally sat in their kitchen with nothing on but a pair of boxers (maroon with a bowtie print), and his last remaining sock.  
And there was a slight chill.  
He sighed and reshuffled the fistful of cards he held in his hand.  
He would try again, a little louder than before, “River! Do you have a 7?"  
She chortled softly as she studiously looked through the last two cards in her hand, and then met his eyes with a grin. “So sorry…. go fish …. ?"  
He reached across the kitchen table to pick up the extra card to add to his handful.  
There was no match.  
He sighed again and leaned down to pull off his last sock.  
As he sat back up, he could see that River was deliciously plotting, her eyes filled with a melange of mischief and happy desire as she gazed at him. Amused he tutted a warning at her..."River if you’re cheating…!”  
"And why would I do that….?” she asked seductively, bringing her cards close to her chest. Her own dress and shoes lay discarded on the floor.  
She had enjoyed shocking him earlier, putting on quite the display as she stripped them off in front of the Doctor.  
Even so, she still had on considerably more articles of clothing in comparison: a blush satin slip over her undergarments, and both of her thigh-high fishnet stocking trimmed with a bit of lace at each band.  
She liked to smooth them out with her hands, straighten the seam, letting her hands linger…  
His eyes snapped back to hers.  
He wouldn’t let himself get so easily distracted. There were games afoot!  
He paused suspiciously,“River, are you even sure that strip go fish is a thing?”  
“Absolutely!  
“That we’ve played before?"  
She laughed, and fanned her cards higher and closer to her face, as though she needed to scrutinize them... “Spoilers!” she cautioned.  
He frowned at her, then leaned across the table and picked up a spoonful of chocolate frosting and put it in his mouth.  
He closed his eyes for a second as he savored the sweet velvety flavor as it melted in his mouth.  
That was how all of this had started.  
They had baked a cake together after dinner, simply because they'd both expressed an interest in having something sweet.  
River had suggested playing cards until the cake was cool enough to frost, but somewhere along the way they’d both given up on that plan and resorted instead to eating alternating spoonfuls of cake and frosting.  
River reached across his arm to sink her spoon into the still warm cake and steal away the corner. She winked at him as he watched her saver the decadent torte.  
“Your turn River.”  
She smiled sweetly and put down her spoon.  
“Do you have an 8?” she asked, holding out her hand expectantly as though she already KNEW the answer.  
His eyes narrowed as he gave her the card.  
He ate another heaping spoonful of frosting.  
It was definitely time for some stalling techniques.  
“River?”  
“Hmmm?” she responded, as she re-arranged her columns and rows of matching pairs with a spoonful of frosting in her mouth.  
“Do you remember we used to play that game, where we’d come up with three questions to ask someone, anyone in history, over dinner?”  
River looked up at him in surprise. “Of course, I remember! I loved that game...”  
“Why did we stop?”  
“Well...there were a few incidents, especially since you always insisted on ACTUALLY visiting the people and asking them our questions.”  
“Oh,... isn’t that how most people play?” he asked absentmindedly as he dipped a piece of cake in the frosting and put it in his mouth.  
River dropped her head into her hands in exasperation and just shook her head.  
The Doctor chewed softly and pondered.  
After he'd swallowed, he challenged, “What do you mean incidents…!?!”  
“Well,” River began, “Let’s just start with that dinner in Bath with Jane Austen, where you demanded she tell you which character was meant to be proud and which was meant to be prejudiced!”  
The Doctor reached across and took another spoonful of frosting. “Well, it needed asking….it’s not as easy after all as deciphering who is sensible and who has sensibility! And it’s your fault for making me watch that mini-series on a never ending cycle.”  
“But it’s obvious the main characters were both proud AND prejudiced.”  
The Doctor furled his eyebrows at her, “And I just wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth! Besides as I recall, there wouldn’t have been an ‘incident' if you hadn’t threatened her.”  
River stood up angrily, then thought better. She put a spoonful of frosting in her mouth and sat down.  
She swallowed, took a deep breath and smiled at the Doctor.  
“If she’d touched your bowtie one more time, I would have gladly wrung her neck.”  
The Doctor’s face broke out in a grin.  
“We’d been old friends, ages ago River. You’re being ridiculous, and forgetful as you also caused that incident with Aristotle, when you grilled him on his writings on women and dwarves in the Nicomachean Ethics.”  
“Which was so different than when you punched Chairman Mao?”  
The Doctor shot out of his seat in protest, “He had that coming!”  
River stood up to follow suit. She crossed her ams. “And it was a good thing that I had my vortex manipulator!” she responded, pointing her finger at the Doctor.  
He laughed and pulled her around to his side of the table.  
And in a second he was lost, games forgotten. She smelled golden and warm and sweet, and like home. His home.  
“We had plenty of good times too though…” he said, as he sat back down and pulled her into his lap.  
She linked her hand with his and smiled. “Foucault?” she offered.  
“The Bronte Sisters.”  
“Ikona.”  
“Dalek Sec”  
“Joan of Arc.”  
“She made those amazing crepes!”  
Their eyes met, generating an electric current between them that produced a magnetic field so strong it crackled to life around them, tugging them closer.  
The Doctor meant to just bop her nose.  
But he couldn’t resist and his lips pulled toward her.  
He reached out and lightly caressed her face with his thumb, brushing his lips over hers… when, suddenly the ringing of a timer bell from the kitchen broke his focus.  
He looked over toward the timer in confusion… then turned back to face his wife, “What’s the timer for River?"  
She responded first with a slow spreading smile and a twinkle in her eyes, and then, she shrugged. “That timer is for the Chantilly lace that I made while you were in the shower… it’s been chilling in the fridge…”  
"But we’ve finished the cake and the frosting."  
River stood up and bent down as though to whisper a secret into his ear.  
Instead though, she flicked her tongue at his earlobe and gently pulled it into her mouth. “I know….” she mumbled, her mouth still caressing his ear.  
A low groan rumbled in the Doctor’s chest and he tried to reach out and catch her in his arms, to pull her back into his lap. But instead she escaped laughing.  
She took a few long steps backwards while facing him, then turned on her heels and ran off to the bedroom.  
Curious, the Doctor crossed the long, empty kitchen in three enormous steps.  
He hastily opened the metallic door and peeked in.  
On the top shelf a large glass bowl caught his eye. It was piled high with clouds of fluffy white whipped cream. The Doctor dragged his finger along the inside rim, and once coated, he brought it to his lips. The Chantilly lace was cool and sweet… nothing less than tantalizing perfection.  
The Doctor smiled to himself. He closed the refrigerator and called out to River as he strode toward the bedroom, bowl in hand.  
“Oh River! Your turn to go fish!”  
Then he paused in his tracks and shouted, “Never mind!”  
He wanted the privilege of pulling off those stockings himself.  
___________________  
The Doctor opened his eyes to an auburn cloud of curls.  
His naked River lay pretzeled to his side, her head nestled into his chest just below his chin.  
He could tell from the steady warm breaths on his skin that she was still fast asleep.  
He smiled down at her and gently blew a wayward curl away from his cheek.  
He’d have to find some way of extricating himself so that he could make breakfast.  
Looking down, he strategized.  
Her right hand lay gently on his left shoulder, if he could just pick that up and gently place it along her hip….  
But no, she moaned softly in protest and wrapped her arm tightly around his chest.  
He placed his right leg off the mattress and tried to agilely pull his left leg out from beneath hers.  
No luck.  
He sighed wishing he’d been a better study at pick-up-sticks.  
Including River’s strip version.  
He was about to try to twist away when something about her face brought him to a pause.  
He’d slept with her like this thousands of times, tens of thousands of times, everywhere from her cell in Stormcage to the riverbeds of the Gamma Forests to the Uyuni salt flats of Bolivia…. or as River referred to them, the best bedroom mirror in the galaxy.  
But he’d never seen her so contentedly asleep, so ready to burrow in and surrender.  
But he was starving, and she needed to get up for work.  
He gathered her closer and breathed her in, then reluctantly ran a fingertip across her forehead and down the bridge of her nose. He’d need to wake her and convince her to be an accomplice in his escape.  
“River….” he whispered to her.  
She stirred begrudgingly, pulling the blankets higher over them and sleepily curling closer.  
“River, I need to get up… I’ll be right back.”  
She lifted her head a millimeter off his chest. “No,” she responded flatly.  
“No?”  
She didn’t even bother to open her eyes. She shook her head no sleepily in response.  
“I’ll make you a deal. I’ll be back in 2 minutes…”  
Trustingly she opened her eyes and nimbly released him.  
He stood up and watched her stretch as she leaned over and wrapped her arms around his pillow, burying her face in it and falling back to sleep.  
He almost lost his resolve and climbed back in.  
But knowing the deadline, and that Nardole would be by soon, he ran to the kitchen ready to fulfill his promise.  
He returned 90 seconds later with two cheerful lime green bowls and a carafe of milk on a breakfast tray.  
He climbed back into bed and nudged River awake.  
She sat up but still groggily leaned her head on his shoulder.  
“Breakfast!” he announced proudly.  
River opened her eyes. “Breakfast in two minutes?”  
She looked down at the tray… “Bowls of cereal with banana and strawberry slices?”  
“Not just any cereal!”  
River peered over the side of the bowl and gasped… “Sugar Jets!”  
“Weren’t they your favorite way back when?”  
“I can’t believe you remembered!”  
“Well, the Tardis and I…”  
River was already busy pouring their milk and shoveling spoonfuls into her mouth.  
He smirked at her. “So how do you feel?”  
She laughed. “Jet propelled!”  
___________________  
River was in her wardrobe getting ready.  
The Doctor was already dressed in multiple layers of teeshirts and hoodies, ready to face the cold front outdoors.  
Large amounts of snow had fallen across the dark side of Darillium, and he wanted to spend a few hours tending to the forest in their ‘Christmas Ravine’, as he and River now referred to it.  
He adjusted the console switches and moved the Tardis to River’s office.  
River and Nardole were scheduled to take her senior archeoastronomy students on a short fieldwork trip.  
And he knew that Nardole would be walking through the doors at any moment, looking for a cup of tea. 

He moved over to the kitchen and set the kettle to boil.  
No sooner had the spout begun to whistle than Nardole and River both entered the kitchen.  
He looked at her and grinned as he handed over a steaming cup and saucer.  
Finally an outfit that he could get behind.  
She was warmly dressed… black jodhpurs, knee high boots, tan zeeda dress, with a warm black hoodie on top (which he had given her), topped off with a thick black bomber jacket and gloves.  
He turned to Nardole and handed him a cup.  
“Are you all set for the day Nardole?” the Doctor asked.  
Of course Nardole never quite looked convinced of anything.  
But he smiled nervously as he sipped.  
“I’m excited to see the sites.”  
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to come?” River inquired… “We’ll be trekking to the edge of the sea. There are some ruins there often compared to Stonehenge on Earth. In a few hours the moons will align perfectly along the ancient architecture and according to legend, brighten the sacred circle like sunlight.”  
“I would like to see that, but I am all set to tend the forest. You’ll have to fill me in later.”  
He walked over, kissed her cheek goodbye, and watched as she and Nardole exited the Tardis, off on their adventure.  
________________________  
River’s voice echoed into the balcony as she spoke out in her lecture hall.  
The typically crowded classroom was empty, save for the four well-bundled students huddled over their field journals in the front row.  
“We will shortly be departing to the Amesbury Circle.  
This Darillium landmark is similar in construction to the famous Stonehenge Prehistoric Monument from Old Earth, which we reviewed earlier in the term.  
Both of these circles are assumed to stand on what locals would have believed was sacred ground. There are many potential theories on their respective cultural function, including calendars to mark seasons, harvests, or to be utilized in religious rituals.  
The Amesbury Circle was only recently discovered. It consists of 18 stones which stand approximately 15 feet high by 10 feet wide. The stones, which were most likely harvested from nearby caves or quarries by precolonial Darillium civilizations, were originally formed by the minerals albite and orthoclase.  
The combination of these minerals created what is commonly known as the moonstone feldspar. As with typical moonstones, the albite and orthoclase in these stones is layered, catching the light and appearing to glow internally. This is due to each unique mineral layer refracting the light wave differently, dependent on the variating composition and thickness of each layer.  
While most moonstones glow blue, some, again depending on the mineral layers, glow in yellow, grey, white, or orange, Early observation trips have documented an orange and yellow glow emitted from some stones in the Amesbury Circle.  
As you know, the 27 moons over Darillium complete their orbit in different cycles… some circle the planet every few hours and others take a considerably longer time. However, according to my research and calculations, in a few hours, 18 of Darillium’s largest moons will align perfectly with the Amesbury circle, which may create a rare and important opportunity to identify the underlying purpose of this monument.  
Therefore our fieldwork will consist of simple preliminary observation. There will be no excavation. Rather you will use your eyes and your equipment to mark and digitally record any observable artifacts, eco facts, and any archeological context that may require preservation.  
Any questions?”  
The sole male student of the group looked up and raised his hand. Like all of the attending Seniors he was dressed in blue, and prepared for the cold trek outdoors. He had a slender face and dark bushy hair that was something of an architectural mystery all on its own.  
“Yes, Kristjan?” River asked as she leaned forward on her speaking podium.  
“I don’t understand our role, if observation trips have already happened and the excavation has not started, why are we being sent out…?”  
“Quite simply to fulfill your fieldwork requirement for this course, which by the way is 35% of your final grade in this class. However, students will be used on the official dig when it commences. Depending on the demonstration of your work during this fieldwork trip and your interest in this project, I can recommend you for further involvement.”  
“But is there any indication there will be a significant discovery on the site to warrant our time?”  
River was too far away from him or he would have seen her eyes flash first in annoyance and then in anger.  
Nardole though saw it, and subconsciously he closed his eyes waiting for her reproval.  
She leaned forward over her podium and looked out at all of the students present.  
Each of their faces turned up and looked at expectantly.  
“Archeology is not exclusively about significant discoveries, and careers are made up of more than brief bursts of acclaim. Archeology is a noble pursuit of fact, it comes with a huge responsibility to restore history, to help peoples understand their past and begin the dialogue on how that past should become part of their future. Every time we dig back we have to humble ourselves and our perspective, we have to travel through time unbiased to understand their values and their experience.  
Remember that before you set foot on the site today.  
Let’s get going, please go to the transport vehicle outdoors, Nardole will lead the way.”  
River stepped off of the podium and into her office.  
She walked over to collect the field study equipment and then closed off her office and lecture hall striding into the dark cold Darillium night.  
___________________________  
Nardole sat in the front of the large black transport vehicle.  
It was all terrain and encased in cold thick protective metal.  
As he drove through the forests, River watched out of her passenger side window as the trees grew increasingly covered by the falling snow. She could begin to smell the salt in the air as they neared the Black Sea.  
The three girls sat behind her, huddled together as they studiously looked over and shared their notes. Kristjan slept on his own all the way in back of the vehicle, his legs taking up the entire rear seat as he napped.  
“Professor Malone?”  
River continued to look out at the flutter of snowflakes as they stuck to the transport window. She responded, "Yes Margret?”  
The young flaxen haired blond sat forward in her seat and leaned closer to River.  
“Will you be telling us more about what has been found at the site so that we know what to look for?”  
River nodded briefly and looked back.  
“I will give you a summary when we arrive, but yes, some of the carvings that were found make reference to old Darillium myths.”  
Trini, the bright eyed redhead leaned forward, “Which myths?”  
River pulled up the bulky red portfolio at her feet. It was filled with notations and had dozens of tabs and multicolored page markers affixed to the edges. She unfasten the elastic band closure and opened it. From the center pages she withdrew a large folded sketching sheet and passed it back.  
The girls eyes widened with interest and even Kristjen stirred from his slumber and leaned forward to observe.  
River continued, “The previous University archeological trips recorded a series of engravings carved into the sides of the stones. Most of their findings either made no conclusion or felt that the markings were strictly decorative…. This is my first trip to the monument, but from my research I feel that there is a possibility that these markings were made by or refer to the ancient Anagoge people of Darillium, most often referred to as the forgotten folk.”  
“Forgotten?” asked Emma, the mousy brunette with a pageboy bob and wide rimmed glasses, “What does that mean? Who were they?”  
“Not enough is known about the specifics, in fact tales of the Anagoge are often referred to as the ‘forgotten stories' and none of the carvings seem to indicate much more than a strong connection to nature. Note the entwined and spiral vines on the figures, faces made of leaves, intricate knots and sacred trees.”  
“Were they considered magical?” Emma inquired, “Only my great-grandmother was from the Black Sea, and she used to tell me stories of ‘lost people’.  
River turned further back excitedly, “It’s funny I’ve done research and there seems to be a distinction between forgotten and lost. The stories don’t coincide and specifically around the Black Sea area there are records that tell tales of both separately, as though they were distinct cultures. What did your granny tell you...”  
“I don’t exactly recall, I was quite small and she very old, but there were tales of giants that would fish in the sea. The vines in these sketches made me think of them but I can’t exactly pinpoint why…. Anyway when we would walk through the forest in the daylight and we’d hear a noise she’d always mention it. She said that when the night would come to Darillium they would turn to stone. When she was a girl she had been to the seashore and seen a man made of stone, his nose and features were still there I remember that, and she thought that he may have been caught by the night when trying to pull in a ship from the sea.”  
In the back of the vehicle Kristjen scoffed loudly, “That sounds like nothing more that fairy stories for children.”  
River turned back to the window to watch the snow. It was piling higher, and the transport slowed as it crossed a clearing near the edge of the forest. “You’d all do well to keep your minds open to possibility,” she announced firmly to all the young passengers. Then she turned to Nardole. “Nardole, you can stop the vehicle. We’ll need to walk the rest of the way.”  
_________________________  
River carried her portfolio and led the way through the forest toward the sounds of the sea.  
Waves crashing in the distance were muffled by her steps crunching down on the newly fallen snow.  
An eerie golden glow peeked through the trunks and branches as they walked closer.  
Nardole followed behind the pack carrying the surveying equipment and making occasional small talk with Kristjen.  
In between the two groups were Emma, Trini, and Margret chattering softly to each other.  
"Professor Malone?"  
"Yes, Trini?” Trini jogged up next to her and the other girls followed suit.  
"I heard from someone that the popular new docent at the University Museum and Galleries is your husband?"  
River smiled to herself as her mind wandered to the Doctor. "You heard correctly."  
“Only, we all think he’s brilliant, I joined his tour on early civilizations of the Aktren Galaxy last week. I must have taken 10 pages worth of notes. Everyone I know attends his lectures, um that is to say his tours, regularly.”  
“He is rather brilliant.” River replied as she nodded her head with a small sly smirk and walked steadily on.  
"He’s quite a bit older than you though?” Margret inquired.  
“Just a bit,” agreed River.  
"And it doesn’t bother you?” Margret asked.  
River stopped walking. "Not in the slightest. Why would it?”  
Emma stepped forward and responded. “She was asking for me. I’m meant to get married but I keep changing my mind.” She shook her head applogetically, "Most of the time he drives me crazy…"  
"Oh the Doctor has done that as well,... sometimes multiple times a day. But you’re asking the wrong question Emma.”  
“Because age is irrelevant?”  
"Actually because questions are irrelevant. When it’s the right person, you don’t need to ask them. It’s not a matter of if or hopefully….but of fact. Like archeology. Husband is the least important title I’d give the Doctor. He’s my ally, whenever I call he’s there, ready to stand along side me, just as he knows I’d be there for him. He’s saved me, most often from myself, more times than I could count and to the best of my ability I’ve done the same. He challenges me and inspires me, he makes me laugh and see the world anew, he’s been my confident and confessor, my lover and true friend. Even if we’d never traveled together, I could still say that’s he’d shown me a universe I’d never known. But here’s the important bit. Even if I’d never married him, he would have still been all of those things to me.”  
Emma reached out and touched River’s arm. “I understand. Thank you.”  
River smiled back. “Don’t thank me yet. We’re almost there.” River pointed toward a grove of pine trees. “Just beyond the ridge of those trees is Amesbury Circle.”  
Trini ran forward toward the brightening light. “I can hear the coast!”  
Emma, Margret, and Kristjen jogged forward after her, each existed in their own way to see the site and get started.  
“Professor!” Kristjen called out, “It’s almost as bright as day here!”  
A shiver of trepidation ran down River’s spine.  
She paused for a moment and looked up at Nardole and gave him what was meant to be a reassuring nod.  
Together they stepped out of the forest and into the light.  
___________________  
In front of River, a truly breathtaking archeological find had left her speechless.  
Lost in thought, her hand covered her cheek for a moment and then subconsciously tugged at her earlobe. Suddenly she deeply regretted not having had the Doctor come along. He would love this.  
The mineral rocks towered taller than even Nardole. And they glowed with a brilliant orange radiance, like a flare straight from the heart of the Earth’s sun. Standing before the monument was like standing in the warm glow of a lantern, and yet it was obvious the moons had yet to fully reach their stations. Once they did, River had no doubt the brightness would double.  
Halfway past the circle, about 100 yards past the edge of the forest, the ground fell away into a steep practically vertical cliff.  
All around the sounds and smells of the sea took over their senses.  
And the snow continued to fall.  
Her students were already at work. Pacing between the stones and sketching in their field journals.  
River tilted her head toward them to coax Nardole on. “Go on then,” she said to him, “Please pass out the soft bristle brushes, flagging tape, pin flags, and trowels. But warn them not to disturb the ground without first speaking to me.”  
River stepped away and quickly opened her portfolio.  
She began to take fast notes on the circle, writing down all of her observations, not knowing yet what would be important or relevant.  
She stepped over to the southernmost stone, which was so far the least bright. She wanted to watch and record the light phenomena as it slowly increased with the alignment of the moons.  
She took her gloves off and brushed her fingertips lightly over the bright stone. On one side she found an etching matching that of a sacred tree and felt the grooves for what type of tool might have carved it. Another symbol, at about the height of her knee caught her attention. She knelt down and brushed dirt and debris away. She blew softly at it and saw an intricate leafy spiral vine emerge from behind the dust.  
Just then Trini called over to her, “Professor! Can you please come look at this?”  
River stepped through the circle and went to look at the easternmost stone, closest to the cliff’s edge.  
“What is it Trini?”  
She pointed to the lower corner of the stone.  
“This marking, look at this face. It looks like it would be the face of a tree, if a tree had a face. And it’s as big as my hand, much larger than the other carvings. And I don’t remember it among the consolidated sketches that you showed us…”  
Just then, a strong breeze howled through, chilling them all to be bone. River pulled her jacket closer and observed as Trini knelt down to further brush the intricate carving.  
Behind them, a sudden loud wooden cracking, like the branches of a tree tumbling through the forest caught River’s attention.  
She turned around, then called out… “Emma?”  
“Yes Professor.”  
“Your great grandmother stories…”  
“Yes?”  
“Did they ever include trolls?”  
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up and over to River, curious as to her reasoning.  
“Not that I recall Professor, why?”  
River pointed to the edge of the cliff, where suddenly a large hand, a hand of twisted vines, a hand almost half the length of a human body, pulled itself up from the Sea’s edge. Behind it, eyes that glowed from orange moonstone light shone back at them.  
“Because... those are trolls….”  
___________________  
Man and creature stood face to face, as though suspended in the light of the moonstones.  
Each one held their breath in anticipation of whatever was coming next.  
Six trolls had climbed up over the cliffs. They stood head and shoulder higher than the monument.  
Their faces and bodies were covered in living vines, slithering in constant motion. Their skin was grooved like the bark of an old withered tree, wrapped and draped with the precision of metal etchings.  
River held up her hands to the height of her shoulders, trying to get their attention and simultaneously show them that she meant no harm.  
“Please. These are young students. Let them go and we can work this out together. Whatever you need, I’m sure I can help.”  
Again the sound of twisting and crackling wood filled the air in response.  
One of the trolls took a step forward, and the ground beneath them vibrated with the weight of impact. He turned slightly as though to address River.  
But from behind her, a panicked Kristjan rushed forward, past her.  
His arm was fully extended and in his hand a handheld weapon was drawn and aimed.  
River rushed forward, placing herself between the trolls and her student.  
She extended her arms to her sides as though trying to create a protective buffer, a no-man’s-land between them.  
She looked over at Kristjen and hissed, "Is that an energy weapon!?! Are you insane?"  
"I’ve heard stories Professor, stories of black alien men that emerge from the sea. I wasn’t going to come on this project without it!”  
“Put it away Kristjen!”  
But he didn’t lower his aim, rather ignoring her, he squinted one eye and prepared to shoot. “No Professor! I’ll take care of this.”  
River turned her back fully to the trolls and lowered her arms.  
She calmly stepped right in front of Kristjen, placing herself directly at the tip of his weapon’s barrel.  
“Professor! What are you doing!” he shouted at her, wind and snow billowing around them.  
Behind Kristjen she heard Nardole’s gasp but refused to turn toward him. She called out instead, “Take the girls Nardole, start walking back toward the forest."  
Then she raised her eyes directly to Kristjen. River spoke softly, purposefully, trying to capture his full attention. "Will you shoot me Kristjen? Do you want to see the color of my blood? Of theirs? Here’s a lesson. I can tell you that all around this Universe some bleed red, others green, or blue, or yellow, or black, some blood is contained in veins and other just sloshes around in bodies, but no matter how it gushes from a wound, and no matter what they’ve done to you, what revenge you’re exacting, or what protection your purporting, it’ll WILL haunt your dreams nonetheless…. Stop this madness. We can go. Just turn around and go.”  
But in that wintery haze an unholy pandemonium ensued.  
The 18 moons had finally reached their alignment and the brightness of the light intensified.  
But more than that, a ripple in space, or a vibration of energy, some kind of low hum was being emitted by the monument.  
As though entranced the trolls began to move forward, and Kristen raised his arm over River’s head to shoot. It was in that blur of a moment that the trolls were reaching their enormous hands forward, the vines slithering past their fingers and darting out as though to venerate the glowing moonstones.  
River pushed Kristjen’s arm away from his targets, knocking him down in the process.  
But as she stood there alone, her back turned away from the trolls, a sudden intense wave of pain coursed through her.  
She looked down in shock and realized that one of the vines had been completely plunged through her abdomen. She stood transfixed, suddenly rooted to the spot, not able to turn or to speak.  
Nardole rushed forward and dragged her back toward the forest, Kristen crawled back in fear and then ran after them all the while discharging the energy weapon madly toward the coast.  
Some of the trolls must have fallen, because the ground groaned and shook. The air was filled with moans of sadness and as Nardole pulled River into the darkness, she finally let herself cry out in pain.  
_____________________________  
River took a few deep breaths and looked down quickly at the vine that impaled her. It stretched 5 or 6 inches out from her abdomen in both directions.  
But she couldn’t think of that now.  
The trolls needed help, and first it was her responsibility to get her students to safety.  
Once both of those things were accomplished she’d figure out what to do about this damn injury.  
River stood up, then swayed as though unbalanced.  
She steadied herself with an extended arm pushing against a tree trunk.  
Kristjen was collapsed on the ground in front of her and Nardole and the girls hovered around.  
They stepped over Kristjen and reached out for River.  
“Professor, are you alright?” Trini whispered, holding her hands forward as though River were nought more than a ball she could catch.  
River meant to respond, but there was a thickness, a stiffness in her vocal cords.  
River tried to clear her throat.  
"Slightly harpooned but I’ll be alright. All of you, we have to keep moving back toward the transport vehicle. I can’t check on the trolls or for damage to the artifacts until I get you to safety.”  
She took no further questions and immediately moved forward.  
She did her best to lead the way, but after 50 or so paces she couldn’t manage to walk further and sank to her knees.  
Nardole gently picked her up.  
She was too tired to protest.  
They all quickened their pace toward the vehicles.  
About halfway there, Nardole paused to allow the students a rest.  
By now Kristjen had found his way out of his mental fog and shock.  
He shouted at all of them, “What were those things!?!”  
Everyone but River shushed him.  
She climbed out of Nardole’s arms and tuned to face Kristjen.  
“They were trolls. Shy, terrified, trolls. And instead of trying to understand them, instead of trying to look for clues about them, you acted out of fear and ignorance and tried to slaughter them! Now after I get you to safety I have to figure out ….” a coughing fit took over River’s chest and she grew short of breathe.  
“You can’t know….”  
“I can’t know what? That all of you grew up during Darillium’s day and knew nothing about them. Indicating that they must be nonviolent? That Emma specifically recalled her great-grandmother’s story about how they turn to stone in darkness, and yet they’ve come back to life with the golden orange light of the moonstones?”  
“But they attacked you!”  
“No Kristjen, they attacked you, and only after you brought an energy weapon and threatened them as they tried to reach their source of light!”  
River tried to walk away, but her feet seemed weighted down with stone.  
Nardole tried to pick her up again, but she gasped in pain.  
He held her gently by the shoulders and looked down at her face.  
"Professor, please, I can go and find the Doctor."  
"No you can’t Nardole, you have to stay here, the students need you. You will protect them.”  
“Me?"  
"Nardole, you are quick and smart, or I wouldn’t have taken you with me to Mendorax Dellora. You are true and loyal or I wouldn’t trust you with my classes."  
River took a step back. “Leave me here, take them back to the university. Then look for the Doctor.”  
She could have fallen, the vine inside of her could have been plunged deeper or dislodged. She could have bled out.  
But she didn’t because Nardole caught by her shoulders and carried her by her arms, body dangling, back to the vehicle.  
_______________________  
Back in the clearing Nardole called to Emma and Trini to help him place River in the transport.  
But her body had become rigid and unbending.  
There was no way that they could get her back into the vehicle.  
And no way that he would leave her alone in this forest.  
They laid her on the ground, on her side.  
Gently he attempted to shake her awake.  
“Professor Malone, wake up. Where is your communicator, or your sonic… can you call the Doctor with those?”  
She shook her head. They were in her coat pocket, too near where the vine transected her body. She wouldn’t dare touch them.  
“What about a message on psychic paper?”  
“I can’t.” She responded, exhausted by the very effort of answering. “If it goes wrong another face will come. I can’t risk this night.”  
Nardole knelt next to her and whispered into her ear.  
“Believe he will come. Do what you can.”  
As her eyes closed and she drifted into a deep sleep her thoughts moved to the Doctor.  
Her Doctor.  
Her telepathic field opened and she reached for him there, praying the Tardis could help carry voice along…..  
There was one more thought. One last thought.  
With all of her strength she opened her eyes and reached to stop Nardole.  
“I’ve done all that I could Nardole.”  
“Did you reach him?”  
"He carries the weight of the Universe on his shoulders. I’ve tried to help him forget what he needs to forget, enjoy what he needs to enjoy, let himself love what he needs to love. But I need you to promise me. If I don’t come through this. Go with him. Whatever loyalty you have to me, give to him. Help him. I promise you Nardole. He’s worth it.”  
“Professor, is he coming? Did you reach him?”  
"The Doctor is a man, a good man, the best man I’ve ever known.”  
River’s eyes closed again. And there was only darkness, and the echos of the howling wind.  
________________________________  
The Doctor was walking through the Christmas Ravine, tending to the flora.  
He missed River.  
He should have gone on that class trip.  
He hadn’t accepted because he didn’t want to push in, to get in the way, but of course that was ridiculous.  
Above the ravine he could hear the wind blustering by and though he wasn’t cold, a shiver passed through his soul. It was River’s voice. He thought for a moment he’d heard it, but not in his mind, somewhere deeper, as though it had echoed in his chest.  
He was being ridiculous, of course she was fine.  
But suddenly the light from the top of Tardis illuminated, and rotated like a search beacon.  
And without another thought he took off in run.  
Back in the console room he searched for the last known triangulation of River’s communicator and moved the Tardis.  
He practically jumped out the door while she was still materializing.  
He saw River on the ground. Her students and Nardole huddled around her.  
And one more student, a boy, standing off to one side.  
“Nardole! What happened.”  
“She was hurt Doctor, very badly. It’s a vine, a troll vine, it’s stabbed her just below her ribcage. Her body won’t bend anymore. She keeps slipping in and out of consciousness. The way she’s been talking… she thinks she’s dying.”  
The Doctor pulled out his sonic and scanned her injury.  
He was just reading the results when River’s lips began to move, as though in a prayer.  
He and Nardole both leaned closer to hear….  
"He’ll be so sad and he can’t be alone. He must never be alone. Promise me Nardole. Promise to go on with him… “  
Nardole’s throat made a noise, like a hurt puppy. He backed away toward the students.  
The Doctor brushed her hair away from her forehead. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Not so fast Melody Malone. You’re not going anywhere.”  
He stood up and barked orders.  
“Someone turn the transport lights on. Nardole, run into the Tardis storage and find some lamps, any lamps.”  
One of the girl students spoke up, “Doctor, is she dying?"  
"Shut up. She’s not dying. But it might actually be worse, and it definitely hurts more…”  
"Worse than dying?"  
"Well let’s say dying we’re pretty good at fixing. This is different… the vine that impaled her has somehow reacted to our people’s DNA."  
"It’s making her into a troll?"  
"No, but it’s spreading in her like a virus… mutating her to be like them in at least one respect… she is turning to stone in the darkness.”  
_____________________  
When warm yellow light reached River, her eyes fluttered open.  
The first thing that she saw was the Doctor.  
He reached out his hand to her and she took it gratefully, placing it under her cheek.  
The Doctor gently laid his head on top of hers.  
And together they just took that moment as their own.  
Then the Doctor sat next to her.  
“Tell me.” she said to him.  
“The genetic makeup of the trolls is spreading through your bones. It must have nicked your ribs and its spreading through the trans-cortical vessels. If the lights turn off you will become immobile again.”  
"Can we do anything to stop it?"  
"Bones can be rebroken, set, and mended, but if it reaches your organs, your hearts, I’m afraid it will be too late….”  
“And?”  
“This is going to be bad.”  
River nodded.  
“So bad I can’t even imagine River.”  
"It’s ok."  
He was already worried. But her face, that face.  
He had to try forever because he couldn’t live without that face.  
He closed his eyes and remembered that just a few hours ago he’d confused her with a sleeping angel, but now her face was contorted in pain, her breath shallow ...  
He swallowed hard but couldn’t get rid of the boulder stuck in his throat. “River?"  
She moved her eyes up to his face, "I love you."  
He grinned back, "I’ll have that.”  
“Come back for me, I’m not the priority. Get the students back, help the trolls. I can wait it out a bit longer…”  
"Not bloody likely. Never River, truly never."  
"I’m sorry about all of this…"  
"Stop don’t say another word …. just promise me one thing"  
“Anything."  
“That you’ll forgive me?"  
“For what?”  
“For this.” And with that he began to pull the hardened vine out of her body. River didn’t even realize that she was screaming in pain. She wouldn’t be able to remember that feeling of being yanked out of her own skin alive. She wouldn’t remember her body shutting in to protect her, or the nanogenes reconfiguring her to the original DNA structure. All she would remember was the Doctor’s eyes as they tried desperately to expel his own fear and save her.  
__________________  
When River opened her eyes, she was in the Tardis medical bay.  
Kristjen was there with her.  
“Where is the Doctor?” she asked him.  
“He took Nardole and the girls back into the storage area. They’re looking for lamps that can simulate the sun.”  
River chuckled and then grimaced in pain. “Like his old tanning bed?”  
“He said you’d say that.”  
River nodded. “What else did he say?”  
“He asked to see my energy blaster and then snapped it in half.”  
River’s eyebrows raised in amusement. “Only two pieces?”  
“And then he stomped on it.”  
River nodded.  
“Have you thought about what you did back there?”  
"Professor Malone, you should save your strength.”  
"Save it? For when? I don’t think you can take it with you…."  
“If you hadn’t tried to stop me. I could have blasted them with energy.”  
“And we’d be in an even worse pickle than we are right now.”  
“Worse how?”  
“Right now there is a chance they survived. A chance you didn’t execute innocent creatures in cold blood…” The first sign of regret that she’d seen finally crossed his face. She continued… "You know Kristjen, I used to carry a weapon.”  
"Then what happened?”  
“I avenged my family.”  
“And?”  
“And nothing changed. The pain and nightmares that were there before were still there after.”  
"And so you stopped carrying your weapon?"  
"No. First I saw my husband get shot by an energy weapon. A streaking bolt of blue light flew towards his chest at almost half the speed of light. It carried 200 million volts, 30,000 amps of electricity, in a direct current. Do you know what that’s like? How the surge of energy heats the air, passes by you like a blaze of fire. You feel it before it hits. He’s strong, so strong, but he couldn’t speak, his clothes were singed and tattered, his face and skin were scorched. And the acrid smell that filled the air, the smell of energy discharge yes, but also the smell of hair and flesh and clothing burning. That smell clings to everything and just when you think it has gone it rebounds and you relive everything again.”  
“So how did you stop?”  
“With the Doctor."  
____________________________  
River was still resting in the medical bay when the Doctor returned.  
He had left Nardole and the girls to make final adjustments to the self generating solar lamps that he had created.  
The Doctor stepped into the room, looked over at Kristjen and literally said, “Shoo.”  
And was delighted to hear River laugh as she watched him scamper away.  
“Be nice.” River said reaching out to him.  
He scooped her up gently and kissed her.  
It was meant to be a swift kiss but several minutes later he moaned as River pulled him deeper into the embrace.  
Nardole coughed conspicuously from the door.  
“Everything is set Doctor.”  
The Doctor nodded to him and then turned to address River.  
“The nanogenes were able to heal the troll blaster injuries. I sent them out remotely and received a report on the console moments ago. The six that we injured are fine. I’m setting up the lights below the cliff near the shore so that they can remain awake and fish and do whatever they need to do. I’ll talk to them now and also ask if they’ll allow you to keep researching the monument…. Anything else?”  
River nodded. “Take Kristjen with you.”  
The Doctor looked at her in momentary surprise.  
River continued, “Teach him to mediate. Help him find the common ground.”  
The Doctor bopped her nose and left her to visit the trolls.  
___________________________________  
The Doctor delivered Nardole and the students back to the University, their fieldwork trip to be postponed to a time when Professor Malone had sufficiently recovered.  
After closing the doors he returned to the medical bay and carried River back to their bedroom.  
He sat down on the edge of the bed.  
“Well, what hurts the most….”  
River smiled. “My back from lying down; My brain from boredom; And my lips because they got a bit wind burned in the snow.”  
He took out a lip balm from his pocket, as though he already knew what her answers would be.  
“It’s honey and almond oil.” he said as he spread a thin layer on her lips.  
“It’s sweet.”  
“Let’s see then…” the Doctor leaned down to kiss her. He nodded. “You’re right!”  
She smiled then waited patiently while he recoated her lips.  
He laid down on the bed, half reclined onto the headboard, and pulled out a book. Then gently gathered River and laid her face down on top of him so that she could rest her back.  
Contently, she breathed him in and he watched her eyes light up like jewels.  
“Thank you,” she said simply.  
He placed a kiss on her forehead. “You’re welcome. But rest. The nanogenes healed you internally, but you will be tremendously sore for a while."  
She nodded and closed her eyes, resting her head over his hearts. He picked up the book he’d brought in from their library, a well worn first edition of Moby Dick, and read to her until he was sure that she’d fallen asleep.  
He rested with her, whispering to her in Gallifreyan and holding her for hours until she stirred on her own.  
When she awoke she made a move to get up. “You must be so tired, I’ll get down.”  
But he reached out and grasped her wrist, shaking his head in response.  
“No. Don’t.” the Doctor said to her.  
She smiled. “Not ever?”  
“Not ever.” he agreed.  
So they snuggled back in together.  
"River, I don’t like it when you hurt."  
She sighed, "I don’t like much either Sweetie."  
"Kristjen told me what you said to him."  
"Did he?” River asked in genuine surprise.  
“River, at some point, not now, because I’ll never let you out of my sight again, but at some point, when we have to leave Darillium and you’re traveling on your own. Promise me that you’ll carry the sonic blaster again? We can modify it together, be sure it cannot be used to kill, but can still help you in a jam…. have it generate shockwaves for example, or a tractor beam, or a shrink ray…”  
River looked at the Doctor. She didn’t need to ask him why. Fear was frozen on his face.  
She ran the back of her thumb across his eyebrow and gently pulled his head closer and reassuringly touched her forehead to his.  
"To knock down some Daleks like bowling pins?” she teased...  
"Or to pull something out of a window?"  
"Generate a black hole?"  
"Or maybe disintegrate a wall."  
“Remember too, I have my sonic."  
“But you can’t use it on wood, the wall might be wooden…  
"So you want me to carry a modified sonic blaster for occasions when I travel alone and am confounded by wooden walls?"  
“Precisely. I mean certainly I’ve never imagined us in 1930’s Chicago… Running against Baby Face Nelson and John Dillinger, escaping in a breezer style Duesenberg Model J, wind rushing through your hair. He brushed her hair back as though he could image just that, as though he longed to see it."  
She gave her curls a firm shake.  
"For something you claim to have never thought of before, that was awfully specific... "  
He kissed the tip of her nose. “Spoilers."  
River laughed and then grimaced at the pain in her rib cage.  
"Don’t make that face..."  
"I’ll try...So 1930s, Windy City?"  
“Fancy dress party?"  
"Oh, absolutely.”  
_____________________________  
Hours later, the Doctor was making tea and quiche, softly strumming his guitar in the kitchen while he waited for the oven timer to ding.  
He sang along as he practiced the chords to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Have You Ever Seen the Rain. River had sung it to him once when they were in the shower and he’d been completely enchanted. He had always wanted to have the opportunity to sing it with her, and what better time than the present…  
When everything was ready he carried the tray into the bedroom, where River had been resting.  
But worryingly found the room empty instead.  
The doors to her wardrobe were ajar so he decided to peer inside.  
Though the outside was a simple heavy Oak wardrobe, thanks to timelord technology, the inside was a large walk-in closet, complete with decorative white roundels on the ceiling.  
The Doctor had never come inside before, and he was amazed at the organized rows of drawers and dresses, coats and shoe boxes, hat boxes and accessories. He stepped forward and noticed a beautiful mauve round tufted ottoman in the corner.  
He found her sitting under a rack of dresses. Her silk kimono robe hung loosely around her shoulders, revealing only knickers and a camisole underneath.  
“You’ll catch cold River, why aren’t you in bed?” he asked, kneeling in front of her and wrapping her back into her kimono.  
He looked tortured and grief stricken.  
"Are you busy Doctor?"  
“Well there is tea and quiche outside, but otherwise no, why?”  
River patted the floor next to her. “Come sit with me?”  
“Alright.”  
He scooched over to her and sat under her dresses. The different fabrics and lengths cascaded around him like a tactile rainbow, and they were all perfumed with her scent. It was at once exotic, intoxicating, and breathtakingly cozy and familiar.  
He turned and smiled at her.  
"Grab that small trunk there.”  
“This one?”  
River nodded, “Both of those wooden trunks please.”  
He placed them in front of her and she opened the first. It was filled with cards, letters, folded scraps of paper, and other miscellaneous knickknacks.  
“They’re memories.”  
“Memories?”  
“Notes, poems, songs, cards, pictures: memories. The vast majority of which intimately involve you. They’re in timey-wimey order, but still a full trunk.”  
“And the other trunk…”  
River opened it, showing stacks of postcards from all over the Universe.  
The Doctor pulled out a handful and sorted through them. Some postcard images he recognized instantly. He’d point something out to River and reminisce over a funny anecdote or two. Other postcards he didn’t recall, but still they spread them out on the ground and enjoyed them all the same.  
“I guess it’s true, you can always count on plenty of postcards and Chinese food across the Universe.”  
River laughed. No truer words had been spoken.  
“Why did you want to show this to me River?”  
“To remind you that, no matter what, it’s been a long and happy journey.”  
He looked over at her and hesitated for half a nanosecond before he reached out to her.  
She let her robe fall away and instead climbed into his lap.  
He’d already removed her camisole by the time he came to his senses.  
“River, you’re healing, let’s go back to bed…”  
“No.”  
“No? Why not?”  
“Because I can’t bear to stop.”  
And so River took her time tearing off the Doctor’s clothing one layer at a time. She arched her back and guided his head to trail kisses down her torso. She would pull herself up by the hung dresses above her, and slowly let herself slide down along every inch of her Doctor.  
River held his face in her hands and ran her fingers through his hair.  
She kissed him, enveloping him in her love, in her taste, in her lips and tongue.  
And he kissed her back, suckling every bit of mouth that she offered.  
River moaned and gripped his shoulders.  
Just like that the seducer became the seduced.  
He carried her to her ottoman and laid her out.  
Taking all the time in the world… all of the time at his fingertips… he lingered over every fold and every peak. Together they amassed a mound of jumpers and laughed as they curled up in their bed of clothing.  
The Doctor tickled her cheek with a sleeve of cashmere, and when he finally held her asleep in his arms, he closed his eyes... happy to have added on yet another memory.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading along to this series. Join us for Part 17 - Shades of Deception, coming soon.


End file.
